In March 2001, asteroid (25143) Itokawa, the target of the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft mission, was in a favorable viewing geometry for ground-based telescopic study. Visible/nearinfrared (VNIR) spectra (~0.48 to 0.9 micrometers) obtained on March 24, 26, and 27 UT, and near-infrared (NIR) spectra (~0.75 to 2.5 micrometers) obtained on March 10, 11, 12, 23, and 24 UT collectively show absorption features centered near 1.0 and 2.0 m, which are indicative of olivine and pyroxene. Analyses of these absorption features indicate an abundance ratio of olivine to pyroxene of approximately 75:25 +/- 5, respectively, with no significant variation in the relative abundance of these minerals across its surface on a regional scale. The band center positions indicate that the mean pyroxene chemistry is ~Wo(14 5)Fs(43 5). There appear to be at least two pyroxene components: primarily a low-Ca orthopyroxene accompanied by a spectrally significant (~15-20%) high Fe-rich pigeonite phase. The mean pyroxene composition is significantly more Fe-rich than the Fs1426 range found in ordinary chondrites. These pyroxene compositions are suggestive of phases crystallized from partial melts. This would indicate that the parent body of (25143) Itokawa reached temperatures sufficient to initiate partial melting (~1050 to 1250 degrees C), but that it did not attain the degree of melting required for significant melt mobilization and efficient segregation of the basaltic melt component from the unmelted residual olivine portion. Itokawas spectral band parameters place it near the S(III)/S(IV) boundary, but within the S(III) taxonomic field. In meteoritic nomenclature, Itokawa would be most analogous to an olivine-rich primitive achondrite. Alternatively, if the high Fs value is not related to partial melting, then Itokawa could also represent a rare atypical LL chondrite, or a previously unsampled oxidized Fe-rich chondritic-like assemblage.

Sayh al Uhaymir (SaU) 169 is a composite lunar meteorite from Oman that consists of polymict regolith breccia (8.44 ppm Th), adhering to impact-melt breccia (IMB; 32.7 ppm Th). In this contribution we consider the regolith breccia portion of SaU 169, and demonstrate that it is composed of two generations representing two formation stages, labeled II and III. The regolith breccia also contains the following clasts: Ti-poor to Ti-rich basalts, gabbros to granulites, and incorporated regolith breccias. The average SaU 169 regolith breccia bulk composition lies within the range of Apollo 12 and 14 soil and regolith breccias, with the closest correspondence being with that of Apollo 14, but Sc contents indicate a higher portion of mare basalts. This is supported by relations between Sm-Al2O3, FeO-Cr2O3-TiO2, Sm/Eu and Th-K2O. The composition can best be modeled as a mixture of high-K KREEP, mare basalt and norite/troctolite, consistent with the rareness of anorthositic rocks. The largest KREEP breccia clast in the regolith is identical in its chemical composition and total REE content to the incompatible trace-element (ITE)- rich high-K KREEP rocks of the Apollo 14 landing site, pointing to a similar source. In contrast to Apollo 14 soil, SaU 169 IMB and SaU 169 KREEP breccia clast, the SaU 169 regolith is not depleted in K/Th, indicating a low contribution of high-Th IMB such as the SaU 169 main lithology in the regolith. The data presented here indicate the SaU 169 regolith breccia is from the lunar front side, and has a strong Procellarum KREEP Terrane signature

Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopic (EELS) study of the Ivuna and Orgueil (CI), and Tagish Lake (C2 ungrouped) carbonaceous chondrite meteorites shows two types of C-clay assemblages. The first is coarser-grained (to 1 micrometer) clay flakes that show an intense O K edge from the silicate together with a prominent degrees C K edge, but without discrete degrees C particles. Nitrogen is common in some clay flakes. Individual Orgueil and Tagish Lake meteorite clay flakes contain up to 6 and 8 at% degrees C, respectively. The degrees C K-edge spectra from the clays show fine structure revealing aromatic, aliphatic, carboxylic, and carbonate degrees C. The EELS data shows that this degrees C is intercalated with the clay flakes. The second C-clay association occurs as poorly crystalline to amorphous material occurring as nanometer aggregates of degrees C, clay, and Fe-O-rich material. Some aggregates are dominated by carbonaceous particles that are structurally and chemically similar to the acid insoluble organic matter. The degrees C K-edge shape from this degrees C resembles that of amorphous degrees C, but lacking the distinct peaks corresponding to aliphatic, carboxylic, and carbonate degrees C groups. Nanodiamonds are locally abundant in some carbonaceous particles. The abundance of degrees C in the clays suggest that molecular speciation in the carbonaceous chondrites is partly determined by the effects of aqueous processing on the meteorite parent bodies, and that clays played an important role. This intricate C-clay association lends credence to the proposal that minerals were important in the prebiotic chemical evolution of the early solar system.

We present a new single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) study performed on a suite of six orthopyroxene grains from the low-shocked H6 Trenzano meteorite. The quenched intracrystalline Fe^(2+)-Mg ordering state in orthopyroxene preserves the memory of the cooling rate near closure temperature Tc, thus yielding useful constraints on the last thermal event undergone by the host rock. The orthopyroxene Tc of 522 +/- 13 degrees C, calculated using a new calibration equation obtained by Stimpfl (2005b), is higher than in previously published H chondrite data. The orthopyroxene cooling rate at this Tc is about 100 degrees C/kyr. This fast rate is inconsistent with the much slower cooling rate expected for H6 in the onion shell structural and thermal model of chondrite parent bodies. A petrographic study carried out at the same time indicated that the Trenzano meteorite is an H5 chondrite and not an H6 chondrite, as it is officially classified. Furthermore, the two-pyroxene equilibrium temperature of Trenzano (824 +- 24 degrees C), calculated with QUILF95, is similar to the two-pyroxene temperature of 750-840 degrees C obtained for the Carcote (H5) chondrite (Kleinschrot and Okrusch 1999).

The thermodynamic properties of SiO2 are approximated over a range of pressures and temperatures important under the extreme conditions achieved in impacts at typical solar system velocities from 5 to about 70 km/s. The liquid/vapor phase curve and critical point of SiO2 are computed using the equation of state (EOS) program ANEOS. To achieve this goal, two shortcomings of ANEOS are corrected. ANEOS, originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories to describe metals, treats the vapor phase as a monatomic mixture of atoms, rather than molecular clusters. It also assumes a Morse potential for the expanded solid state. Neither of these assumptions is accurate for geologic materials, such as SiO2, that contain molecular clusters in the vapor phase and are better described by a Mie-type potential in the solid state. Using the updates described here, an EOS adequate for numerical hydrocode computations is constructed that agrees well with shock data at pressures up to at least 600 GPa and temperatures up to 50,000 K. This EOS also gives a good representation of the liquid/vapor transition at much lower pressures and temperatures. The estimated critical point parameters for SiO2 are Pc = 0.19 GPa, Tc = 5400K, rho-c = 550 kg/m^3.

Martian meteorites are fragments of the Martian crust. These samples represent igneous rocks, much like basalt. As such, many laboratory techniques designed for the study of Earth materials have been applied to these meteorites. Despite numerous studies of Martian meteorites, little data exists on their basic structural characteristics, such as porosity or density, information that is important in interpreting their origin, shock modification, and cosmic ray exposure history. Analysis of these meteorites provides both insight into the various lithologies present as well as the impact history of the planets surface. We present new data relating to the physical characteristics of twelve Martian meteorites. Porosity was determined via a combination of scanning electron microscope (SEM) imagery/image analysis and helium pycnometry, coupled with a modified Archimedean method for bulk density measurements. Our results show a range in porosity and density values and that porosity tends to increase toward the edge of the sample. Preliminary interpretation of the data demonstrates good agreement between porosity measured at 100 and 300 magnification for the shergottite group, while others exhibit more variability. In comparison with the limited existing data for Martian meteorites we find fairly good agreement, although our porosity values typically lie at the low end of published values. Surprisingly, despite the increased data set, there is little by way of correlation between either porosity or density with parameters such as shock effect or terrestrial residency. Further data collection on additional meteorite samples is required before more definitive statements can be made concerning the validity of these observations.